Press Release (Urban Farm Company)

Colorado gets it: Grow food yourself, right in your neighborhood, and Monsanto can’t win.

So to truly change the food system backyard gardens are springing up all over the Front Range, courtesy of a local gardener with a huge vision.

Bryant Mason, founder and owner of The Urban Farm Company, partnered with Stapleton’s premier builders early this year to install a vegetable garden in, ideally, every new home as it’s built in the Stapleton neighborhood. He’s teaching classes, talking to families and sharing his passion for making Coloradans happier, healthier and more informed when it comes to their food.

“It’s such a simple, natural and age-old concept,” Mason said. “When I started gardening, it just made me feel good, and I never understood why that was, then I learned the science behind how gardening makes you happier. Soil contains mycobacterium vaccae that you breathe in and ingest when you’re gardening. Your body’s immune response creates serotonin in your brain, which is an antidepressant drug.”

So he started a company to share those good feelings, bringing a sustainable gardening model to homes and newly built communities throughout the Front Range. He said the company’s goal is to keep building partnerships like the one at Stapleton, which includes Standard Pacific Homes, Parkwood Homes, New Town Builders, Century Communities, Wonderland Homes, KB Homes, the Infinity Home Collection, David Weekly Homes and Boulder Creek Builders.

“We want to empower people to grow their own food right in their backyards,” said Mason. “We know that the minute you cut a head of lettuce and ship it from California, it loses nutrients. That doesn’t happen when you go snip a giant salad out of your backyard garden.”

He builds families customized, organic, raised-bed vegetable gardens that come with all of the tools for success: one of the area’s best soil mixes, assistance throughout the season and an online adviser to keep everyone in the know.

“We now know kids who garden actually have a higher preference for healthy food for the rest of their lives,” Mason said. “They have better interpersonal skills. They have higher self esteem. They actually do better in school in math and science. It’s the same thing with adults, and it’s a concept that Coloradans understand and can really get behind.”
Nancy McMahon, an urban gardener from Fort Collins, Colo. praised Mason’s efforts not just in her garden, but in including her daughters in the garden planting. After moving into a new house, the family just didn’t have time for a new garden, and she said her 9-year-old was upset.

McMahon’s new urban garden provided a solution the whole family could be involved in, but with minimal work, she said.

“I didn’t want everything to be done for us and this allowed the girls to be involved in the process — selecting what they wanted to grow — and then planting it themselves,” she said. “Watch- ing those tiny seeds turn into sprouts and then full, lush plants was an amazing experience. ... It was exactly what we were looking for.”

Press Release (City of Colorado Springs)

2013 Street Tree Planting Program

Would you like a new street tree in front of your property?  City Forestry is once again offering the free street tree planting program this spring and has approximately 80 trees to give away.  Trees are given to applicants on a first-come, first-served basis at no cost, however residents will be required to pick up and plant their own street trees.  The trees were purchased through Trees Across Colorado with the Tree City USA fund.

To apply for a tree, please contact City Forestry @ 385-5942.  The deadline for accepting applications will be 4/11/2013.  There is usually room for a street tree if there is 25 to 35 feet between current street trees. Planting and watering instructions will be provided at the time of pickup.  Pickup dates and times will be posted on www.SpringsGov.com/forestry. 

For more information, contact City Forestry at 385-5942.